Friday, September 27, 2013

Have you
heard? Team Apocalypse returns on October 5th in FALL! That's only
eight days away. Eek! I am so incredibly excited about this! I spent a little
more than a year working on FALL, and I'm looking forward to sending it off
into the world for all of you.

But before we
get to the big day… we have another little something for you. I present to you the cover for FALL!

How do you save someone who doesn't want to be
saved?

Those called to stand
guard against the end are broken, and Sköll and Hati run free. Now Arionna
Jacobs and Dace Matthews face a threat unlike any before. Ragnarök is coming
and they aren't strong enough to stop it.

Arionna thought she
understood sacrifice, but she never counted on her destiny tearing Dace apart.
Ever since she nearly died, he has been consumed with guilt. Now it threatens
to turn him into the monster he always feared.

It's up to Arionna to
stop him before it's too late, but the path to hell is paved with good
intentions, and Dace is hurtling toward self destruction. This time, Arionna
isn't sure she can save him from himself. Can she convince him to let the past
go, or is her true destiny to sacrifice her heart in exchange for the lives of
the people she loves?

* * *

Squeak! The cover artist spent months working to get this just right, and I absolutely love it. It's melancholy and hopeful and mysterious and oh my gosh, yes, that is Geri and Freki (and Ari!) on the cover! Squeak! I hope you love it as well. :)To celebrate the cover's introduction to the world, I'll be giving away ebook copies of FADE and FALL and FALL bookmarks to one lucky winner. You can enter via the rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveawayAnd don't forget to check on the blog tour each day (schedule of events is linked on the right sidebar). I'll be bopping all over the internets to dish about FALL and give away some fantastic prize packages. We'll also be celebrating the BIG DAY with a Facebook Release Party on October 5th. Make sure you stop by for teasers, games, and prizes. I'll post all the details about that soon. Promise. :)Before I shut up so you can look at the cover some more, I need to say another massive thank you to everyone who has had a hand in helping whip this release into shape. Sharon Bayliss, Michelle Knoll, Dawna Raver, Naomi Nakashima, Clare Dugmore, Nikki Tetreault, the blog tour hosts, the cover reveal hosts, those who have donated prizes, and the entire staff of CQ have made magic happen more or less without my help so I could focus on my husband and his health. I am awed and humbled and so, so grateful to each of them. So thanks, loves. I owe you!Now, back to the cover. What do you guys think? Are you anywhere near as excited as I am?!

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Hello, lovelies,
I hope this post finds all of you well. I've been trying to keep up with social media posts and emails, but I fear I haven't done a stellar job. So I wanted to take a minute to inform you all of what's happening in my world, and say a few important things.

As many of you are already aware, my husband (SS) is very ill. Several months ago, he began to lose weight without trying. In June, he started to become fatigued very easily. At the beginning of August, he took a turn for the worse. We soon learned he had a large mass in his right lung. After numerous tests, a biopsy, and a stay in the hospital, his doctors diagnosed him with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma which seemed to originate in the lymph nodes in his chest and spread to his lung.

We were devastated, but equally as determined to fight this. SS has always been healthy, and incredibly stubborn, so if anyone could bounce back from cancer, he could. Unfortunately, things aren't always that cut and dried. A few days after being diagnosed, we learned that this was turning out to be one of those times.

The mass in his lung is growing rapidly. In a matter of weeks, it doubled in size. So they retested some of the tissue they took during his hospital stay in August. The second time around, results indicated it was not lymphoma. This would ordinarly be fanastic news, but it's been alarming for his doctors for a whole host of reasons, all of which have led them to question if this is lymphoma, if it's some other type of cancer, or if it's another illness altogether. We've bounced from specialist to specialist over the last month, and no one has any answers.

Two weeks ago, his pulmonologist and oncologist decided the best course would be to cut him open and remove several pieces of the tumor in his lung, both to reduce some of the trauma being done to his lung, and to put it under a microscrope to figure out exactly what the hell this thing is so we can get a treatment plan in place. We scheduled the surgery for last Thursday.

On Wednesday, he went to the hospital for a battery of tests. He no more returned home, when we had to rush him back to the hospital. His blood oxygen levels were dangerously low, and there was some concern that a blood clot may have moved into his neck. They admitted him immediately and started oxygen therapy. Thankfully, the blood clot was a false alarm.

Thursday was touch and go because of his oxygen needs, but at the 11th hour, they decided to proceed with the surgery as planned. They were able to remove several good pieces of the mass for study, but it didn't really help otherwise. He wasn't pushing air into the lower chamber of his right lung, so they put him in CVICU. On Friday, they were able to move him to a step-down unit where he remains. He is slowly healing from the surgery, but when he returns home, he will more than likely do so with an oxygen tank in tow. He can no longer stand from a sitting position without his oxygen levels dropping. He's lost close to 65 pounds in the last six months, 20 in the last three weeks alone.

He now has nine doctors on his case, eight of whom are specialists from fields such as oncology/hematology, infectious diseases, pulmonology, etc, etc, etc. They still don't know what the hell this thing is, but it's seriously damaging his lung and has some sort of "weird cells" in it that no one on his team seems to have seen before. His platelet count is incredibly high, his WBC is high, the lymph nodes in his chest are all screwed up. He's easily fatigued, frequently disoriented, and constantly lightheaded.

It's frightening and incredibly frustrating. He needs to be treated, but no one know what to treat him for. So far, the results from the initial biopsy in August and the surgery on Thursday have given us more questions than answers. They're looking at every sort of cancer and infection they can think of, and nothing has panned out. Everything they've thrown at it (five rounds of antibiotics, two rounds of steroids, heavy duty anti-inflammatory meds, surgery, Heparin injections, etc) has failed to slow it down. If they can't figure out exactly what it is, they think the best course of action may be to go in and remove the entire affected portion of his lung, which is half of it at this point.

To make a long story short, the last month and a half has been a roller coaster ride for our family. One full of hospital rooms, doctors' offices, and a blur of information and overwhelming emotion. We're doing our best to keep our heads and our spirits up, and are focused on getting him well. We are confident he will beat this thing, whatever it is, and will be back to his old self soon enough.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to you guys. Our friends, family, coworkers, readers, and fellow authors have rallied around us and taken on so many of the responsibilities we've been forced to set aside for the time being. My freezer is stocked thanks to friends, our animals are cared for, and my house continues to run more or less without any effort from me.

FALL also continues on schedule because of my beta team, my fellow authors, and the staff at Curiosity Quills. SS was adamant that FALL hit shelves in October, and I am confident that will happen despite his illness. My betas, fellow authors, and CQ have stepped in to take on so much of the behind the scenes work that goes into publishing. They have all been a god send to me, and I cannot say enough how much I appreciate it. So when FALL does hit shelves, please thank them. At this point, I think it's safe to say they will be the reason why.

We do not know what we face in the coming weeks and months, but we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we don't face it alone. And because of you guys, we know we're blessed. So thank you all for the thoughts, the prayers, and all of the love you've been sending to my hero and best friend.
Your emails and messages have been a bright spot in a very trying time for us, and I cannot tell you enough how humbled SS and I are by each of you, and how honored we are to call you guys friends.

I'm a big believer in giving back, and this year, I want YOU to help decide which charity will benefit from the release of FALL. So dust off your keyboard and tell me about your favorite charity! I can't promise I will make them rich, but I can promise I will donate 10% of what I earn from the publication of FALL for the first six months to one charity, chosen by you guys.

Here's how it works…

1. Pick your charity.2. In 200 words or less, tell me why this charity is important to you. What do they do? How has their mission had an impact on your life?3. Include the organizations name, website address, telephone number and/or email address, and your name in your entry. Email this information, along with your nomination, to akmorgen at akmorgen dot com between September 10th (9/10/13) and September 15th (9/15/13).4. Please do not include logos, graphics, etc unless you have permission to do so.5. My beta team and I will then confirm nominations by checking to ensure they're legit and meet the criteria (see below).6. We will then select our top five based upon mission of the charity, impact, and personal identification with mission.7. The top five will be posted to http://akmorgen.com on October 1st (10/1/13) for public voting.8. Voting will run from midnight EST on 10/1 to 11:59pm EST on 10/4. 9. The winning charity (aka that with the most votes) will be announced on FALL's release day (10/5).10. 10% of author royalties from sales of FALL for the first 6 months of publication will be donated to the winning charity once per month from 12/13 through 5/14. In the event of a tie, the top two charities will split proceeds… 5% will be donated to each.11. The individual who nominated the winning charity will receive an autographed copy of both FADE and FALL, as well as the honor of garnering support for one awesome charity.

So what exactly counts as a charity for this contest? Here are the particulars:

• Charities of all sizes will be accepted. However they must work to better the lives of people in the United States in some real way without regard to race, religion, political affiliation, nationality, sexual orientation, age, or gender. Notable exceptions to this rule are organizations who serve a specific group of people (ie: those that support children, the elderly, cancer foundations, or women's shelters, men's shelters, etc). • All nominated charities must be recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity in the United States and/or be an international organization with an operational branch or division that is designated as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in the United States.• Religious and political organizations will not be accepted. Neither will organizations that promote hate speech, intolerance, are discriminatory, or are otherwise deemed offensive (ie: Westboro Baptist Church). • Likewise, those identified as having suspect or questionable business practices (see this article for examples) will not be accepted.

Now for a brief disclaimer…

My beta team and I reserve the right to disqualify any charity with a mission or practices I cannot or will not support or cannot or will not ask my readers to support. I love charities and giving back, but I can't support an organization whose values I can't honestly stand behind or ask others to stand behind.

Intimidated by all these particulars? Don't be! If you aren't sure your favorite charity qualifies, feel free to submit it. If it doesn't qualify for any reason, I promise to keep that information, and your nomination, confidential.

Remember, nominations are open from 9/10 to 9/15. And public voting runs from 10/1 to 10/4.